Nearly 8,000 consumers described what the world will look like in 2030 in the era of robotization and 5G connectivity in the latest Ericsson report "Hot Consumer Trends."

Many books and films have already been devoted to futuristic visions of the future and technologies. Scientists and artists have been outdoing one another for years in forecasts for the coming decades of humanity, but each of us has our own hopes and fears about new technologies.

Imagine your work in the future. An automatic assistant schedules tasks for the coming week, and your chair adjusts its position so that back pain does not return. Meanwhile, your automatic financial advisor helps you with holiday plans and suggests bookings that will appeal to your whole family and stay within the household budget, and you agree on the content of contracts with artificial intelligence, which moves efficiently through the maze of legal changes.

- "The statement that machines will become intelligent doesn't have to mean they will look like humans. They could just as well be nameless abstractions that do things faster, more logically and more effectively than a human. Either way, they probably won't be ordinary automatons, or submissive servants mindlessly following our whims. They will motivate us, take care of us and our surroundings, but they will also be used by the criminal world, which cybersecurity services will have to face" - says Marcin Sugak, an expert at Ericsson.

Artificial intelligence for the climate

Artificial intelligence for the climate

One of the more important topics in the latest "Hot Consumer Trends" study is the impact of technology on changes in the natural environment. In a society that still mainly uses fossil fuels, finding ways to reduce energy consumption will be beneficial for the climate. As many as 84% of respondents predict that by 2030, smartphones, home devices and so-called wearables will save electricity by sharing it with all other devices and charging only during hours of lower household energy demand.

Another way could be sustainable electricity generation at home. 83% of those surveyed believe that by 2030, self-charging batteries will be available that generate energy from many sources, such as the sun, movement, rain or waste. Demand for self-sufficient energy sources will likely be high, because already 6 in 10 people say they would like to use this type of device.

Your smartphone will tell you the truth

Your smartphone will tell you the truth

What the world will look like in 2030 - the main trends

Understanding how a machine "thinks" is practically impossible. That is why there is demand for technology that will start explaining itself. 86% of respondents expect that by 2030, smartphone apps will explain to us in detail what data they collect and how they will use it.

-"There is a good chance that if a user learned more about how apps use their private data, they would want to limit their use of those apps, which would ultimately affect developers' revenues. However, 46% of respondents who actively use technology believe that the issue of apps explaining themselves will be regulated and required by law by 2030" - explains Marcin Sugak.

Most of the tendencies presented in the Hot Consumer Trends report indicate that consumers have a positive attitude toward the use of new technologies in the future. There are, however, some exceptions. Analogously to apps that explain their actions, there will also be those whose main goal will be to cause harm. 77% of consumers fear that in 2030, digital break-ins and thefts will be carried out by intelligent bots which, by learning the "behaviors" of various devices, will gradually take control of them and, for example, steal login data for various systems without leaving a trace.

-"This has one positive aspect - we can see that cybersecurity has already moved beyond the circle of IT specialists and is an important and well-known topic in society at large. Consumers are increasingly aware in their online activities" - says Marcin Sugak.

Poland on the threshold of 5G

Poland on the threshold of 5G

Already today we can see how many startups and large corporations are creating the first solutions that are the seed of these futuristic technologies expected by consumers. A milestone on this path will be the widespread adoption of 5G communication, which, thanks to its high link capacity and practically zero latency, opens the world to new possibilities. It is worth noting that Ericsson equipment has been ready to work on 5G networks since 2015.

**The Ericsson Hot Consumer Trends study is available HERE.

Summary

The Ericsson "Hot Consumer Trends" report shows that by 2030 consumers expect technology to, among other things, save energy (84% of indications), have apps explain their data collection (86%) and provide self-charging batteries (83%). An interesting fact is that nearly half of respondents (46%) want app transparency to be regulated by law, and cybersecurity to become a social topic, not just a specialist one. The foundation of these changes is to be the 5G network, ready in Ericsson equipment since 2015.